Blind bet: Ohio goes after bingo.

• Author: Weigel, David
• Position: Ohio Lottery Commission investigates Written Communications Radio Service's bingo games license - Brief article

THE CRACKDOWN on gambling has found a curious target: Ohio's nonprofit Written Communications Radio Service. WCRS had ridden the airwaves for 30 years, its volunteers and hosts reading from newspapers, magazines, and comic strips for the benefit of blind listeners. But the staff may close up shop as the state looks into the shady way the folks at WCRS pay the bills: bingo nights.

The station has been licensed to run bingo games since 1990. But in 2003, the new state attorney general, Jim Petro, transferred control of bingo licensing to the Ohio Lottery Commission. By the next year, the attorney general's office had opened an investigation into WCRS.

The station's three full-time staffers handed over all of its tax forms, invoices, and instant bingo receipts. The...